Green synthesis of hybrid papain/Ni3(PO4)2 rods electrocatalyst for enhanced oxygen evolution reaction

An eco-friendly approach was used to produce the binary papain/Ni3(PO4)2 in the presence of papain, which is derived from green papaya fruits. Rod shape Papain/Ni3(PO4)2 showed excellent OER activities in alkaline, neutral and acidic media.

Doping-free bandgap tunability in Fe2O3 nanostructured films

A tunable bandgap without doping is highly desirable for applications in optoelectronic devices. Herein, we develop a new method which can tune the bandgap without any doping. In the present research, the bandgap of Fe₂O₃ nanostructured films is simply tuned by changing the synthesis temperature. The Fe₂O₃ nanostructured films are synthesized on ITO/glass substrates at temperatures of 1100, 1150, 1200, and 1250 °C using the hot filament metal oxide vapor deposition (HFMOVD) and thermal oxidation techniques. The Fe₂O₃ nanostructured films contain two mixtures of Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ cations and two trigonal (α) and cubic (γ) phases. The increase of the Fe²⁺ cations and cubic (γ) phase with the elevated synthesis temperatures lifted the valence band edge, indicating a reduction in the bandgap. The linear bandgap reduction of 0.55 eV without any doping makes the Fe₂O₃ nanostructured films promising materials for applications in bandgap engineering, optoelectronic devices, and energy storage devices.

Rational design of marigold-shaped composite Ni3V2O8 flowers: a promising catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction

Ni₃V₂O₈ flowers designed by the thermal decay of molecular precursors show excellent OER activity with an overpotential of 328 mV.

Correction: Doping-free bandgap tuning in one-dimensional Magnéli-phase nanorods of Mo4O11

Correction for 'Doping-free bandgap tuning in one-dimensional Magnéli-phase nanorods of Mo₄O₁₁' by Duy Van Pham et al., Nanoscale, 2016, 8, 5559-5566.

Temperature-dependent ultraviolet photoluminescence in hierarchical Zn, ZnO and ZnO/Zn nanostructures

The temperature-dependent effects on the ultraviolet (UV) photoluminescence (PL) enhancement, blueshift, thermal quenching, and chromaticity of the two-dimensional (2D) Zn nanosheets, 2D-hierarchical ZnO nanostructures, and 2D-hierarchical ZnO/Zn nanostructures are presented. In this study, 2D Zn nanosheets were synthesized using a hot-plate metal vapor deposition technique, after which 2D-hierarchical ZnO nanostructures and ZnO/Zn were prepared from the 2D Zn nanosheets by a simple thermal annealing method. The enhancement and blueshift of the UV PL emissions from the three nanostructures at low temperatures arose from three distinct PL mechanisms. For the ZnO nanostructures, the UV PL emission enhancements and blueshifts at low temperature were due to the conversion of the free excitons (FXs) to neutral-donor-bound-excitons (D⁰Xs). The ZnO/Zn nanostructures possessed the highest UV PL intensities among the three nanostructures, because the free electrons from the Zn portions across the metal-semiconductor heterojunctions greatly assisted in enhancing the PL emissions. The enhancement and thermal quenching were quantitatively analyzed with simple normalization methods. The results show that all three kinds of nanostructures are excellent candidates for use in UV light emitters.

Perforated mesoporous NiO nanostructures for an enhanced pseudocapacitive performance with ultra-high rate capability and high energy density

The morphology of NiO (1D nanobelts and 2D nanosheets) has a significant effect on the pseudocapacitive performance. The perforated and interlinked mesoporous structure of NiO nanobelts delivered higher power and energy density than nanosheets.

Copper Oxide/Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite-Catalyzed Synthesis of Flavanones and Flavanones with Triazole Hybrid Molecules in One Pot: A Green and Sustainable Approach

An efficient, green, and sustainable synthesis of new hybrid molecules containing flavanone with triazole by merging the Michael addition and Click reaction using a copper oxide/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite in one pot is reported. The catalyst can easily be recycled and reused in seven consecutive runs without compromising the product yields. Other notable advantages include using water as a reaction medium and obtaining good to excellent yields, low catalyst loading, high atom efficiency, high substrate variation, and good results in the gram scale reaction.

Preparation, characterization and catalytic application of nano-Fe3O4-DOPA-SnO2 having high TON and TOF for non-toxic and sustainable synthesis of dihydroquinazolinone derivatives

A novel class of heterogeneous magnetically separable nano catalysts was designed by encapsulating SnO₂ on nano-Fe₃O₄-DOPA. And is applied for the synthesis of dihydroquinazolinone derivatives.

Terahertz spin-wave waveguides and optical magnonics in one-dimensional NiO nanorods

The two-magnon (2M) spin waves with a magnon frequency of 43 THz, generated by a polarized laser, were first observed in one-dimensional (1D) NiO nanorods. The 1D NiO nanorods of ∼700 nm length, which have perfectly in-plane antiferromagnetic spins lying on the (200) and (100) faces, are the smallest spin-wave waveguides. Due to the magneto-optical Faraday effect (MOFE), the significant change in the Faraday intensity can show the 2M information in the NiO nanorods. There are only two 2M-on and 2M-off states at various applied alternating-current magnetic fields and laser-incident angles, which make the 1D NiO nanorods excellent optical nanomagnonics.

Impact of Nanosize on Supercapacitance: Study of 1D Nanorods and 2D Thin-Films of Nickel Oxide

We synthesized unique one-dimensional (1D) nanorods and two-dimensional (2D) thin-films of NiO on indium-tin-oxide thin-films using a hot-filament metal-oxide vapor deposition technique. The 1D nanorods have an average width and length of ∼100 and ∼500 nm, respectively, and the densely packed 2D thin-films have an average thickness of ∼500 nm. The 1D nanorods perform as parallel units for charge storing. However, the 2D thin-films act as one single unit for charge storing. The 2D thin-films possess a high specific capacitance of ∼746 F/g compared to 1D nanorods (∼230 F/g) using galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements at a current density of 3 A/g. Because the 1D NiO nanorods provide more plentiful surface areas than those of the 2D thin-films, they are fully active at the first few cycles. However, the capacitance retention of the 1D nanorods decays faster than that of the 2D thin-films. Also, the 1D NiO nanorods suffer from instability due to the fast electrochemical dissolution and high nanocontact resistance. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy verifies that the low dimensionality of the 1D NiO nanorods induces the unavoidable effects that lead them to have poor supercapacitive performances. On the other hand, the slow electrochemical dissolution and small contact resistance in the 2D NiO thin-films favor to achieve high specific capacitance and great stability.

Doping-free bandgap tuning in one-dimensional Magnéli-phase nanorods of Mo4O11

We synthesized one-dimensional (1D) Magnéli-phase nanorods of Mo4O11 using the hot filament metal-oxide vapor deposition technique. The 1D Magnéli-phase Mo4O11 nanorods synthesized at 1000, 1050, 1100, 1150, and 1200 °C contain varying combinations of two orthorhombic (α) and monoclinic (η) phases, and various mixtures of Mo(4+), Mo(5+) and Mo(6+) cations, while those synthesized at a higher temperature look bluer. The shifts of the transmittance maximum and absorbance minimum of the 1D Magnéli-phase Mo4O11 nanorods are inversely and linearly proportional to the elevated temperature, verifying that the bandgaps (Eg) are inversely proportional to the elevated temperature. The bandgap (Eg) of the 1D Magnéli-phase Mo4O11 nanorods can be tuned by simply controlling the synthesis temperature without doping with other materials, giving the 1D Magnéli-phase Mo4O11 nanorods good potential for use in optoelectronic nanodevices and bandgap engineering.

Size-controllable synthesis of Bi/Bi2O3 heterojunction nanoparticles using pulsed Nd:YAG laser deposition and metal-semiconductor-heterojunction-assisted photoluminescence

We synthesized Bi/Bi2O3 heterojunction nanoparticles at various substrate temperatures using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique with a pulsed Nd:YAG laser. The Bi/Bi2O3 heterojunction nanoparticles consisted of Bi nanoparticles and Bi2O3 surface layers. The average diameter of the Bi nanoparticles and the thickness of the Bi2O3 surface layer are linearly proportional to the substrate temperature. The heterojunctions between the Bi nanoparticles and Bi2O3 surface layers, which are the metal-semiconductor heterojunctions, can strongly enhance the photoluminescence (PL) of the Bi/Bi2O3 nanoparticles, because the metallic Bi nanoparticles can provide massive free Fermi-level electrons for the electron transitions in the Bi2O3 surface layers. The enhancement of PL emission at room temperature by metal-semiconductor-heterojunctions make the Bi/Bi2O3 heterojunction nanoparticles potential candidates for use in optoelectronic nanodevices, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs).

Promising field electron emission performance of vertically aligned one dimensional (1D) brookite (β) TiO2nanorods

The vertically aligned and uniformly dispersed β-TiO₂nanorods injected electrons direct toward emission sites, and prominently contributed to the low turn-on field of 3.9 V μm⁻¹at a current density of 10 μA and also enhance the emission stability.

Photoluminescence mechanisms of metallic Zn nanospheres, semiconducting ZnO nanoballoons, and metal-semiconductor Zn/ZnO nanospheres

We utilized a thermal radiation method to synthesize semiconducting hollow ZnO nanoballoons and metal-semiconductor concentric solid Zn/ZnO nanospheres from metallic solid Zn nanospheres. The chemical properties, crystalline structures, and photoluminescence mechanisms for the metallic solid Zn nanospheres, semiconducting hollow ZnO nanoballoons, and metal-semiconductor concentric solid Zn/ZnO nanospheres are presented. The PL emissions of the metallic Zn solid nanospheres are mainly dependent on the electron transitions between the Fermi level (E(F)) and the 3d band, while those of the semiconducting hollow ZnO nanoballoons are ascribed to the near band edge (NBE) and deep level electron transitions. The PL emissions of the metal-semiconductor concentric solid Zn/ZnO nanospheres are attributed to the electron transitions across the metal-semiconductor junction, from the E(F) to the valence and 3d bands, and from the interface states to the valence band. All three nanostructures are excellent room-temperature light emitters.

Effective photoluminescence in a large-area array of Ta2O5 nanodots

We describe here the synthesis of a large-area Ta2O5 nanodot array by utilizing the hot filament metal vapor deposition technique. The Ta2O5 nanodots arranged in a large-area array on a Si wafer had an average diameter of -8 nm. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) revealed the stoichiometric Ta and O compositions of the Ta2O5 nanodots. Raman spectroscopy showed the Ta2O5 nanodots to be of orthorhombic (beta) crystal. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy showed the green and red light emissions of the beta-Ta2O5 nanodots at room temperature.

Bomb blast injury: effect on middle and inner ear

OBJECTIVE

To study the symptomatology, clinical findings and the effects of blast injury on middle and inner ear in survivors of bomb blast. Settings City of Mumbai, India.

METHODS

The study group consisted of 52 patients exposed to the bomb blast that occurred on 25th August 2003.

RESULT AND ANALYSIS

The distance of the victim from the blast site has no major infiuence in producing effects on middle and inner ear in our study of the surviving individuals. Rupture of the tympanic membrane occurs due to the positive wave but both everted and inverted edges can be found in multiple perforations of the tympanic membrane.